| January 15, 2023 |
| Are Non-Competes Harmful or Beneficial in Promoting Greater Economic Opportunity and Competition? |
| Lina Khan, commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a ban on employers from requiring employees to sign non-compete agreements, which prevent workers from taking positions at competitors for a period of time after they leave a job at a hearing in Washington, D.C., in 2021. Read More. |
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| February 15, 2023 |
| Antibiotic Resistance Crisis – What Can Be Done and Two Different Approaches |
| The subject about antibiotic resistance is not new but now, it’s a crisis. We’ve run out of alternatives to killing bacteria which turns into an infection and eventually resistant to antibiotics. Bacteria have been around long before mankind, before the dinosaurs and even before earth was created. Bacteria will still exist long after mankind is gone. The reason bacteria will survive all of us is because they adapt to their environment. Bacteria can thrive in a range of harsh environments, from bubbling hot springs to Arctic ice to the human body, where certain bacteria cause infection. To read more. |
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| March 15, 2023 |
| What’s New in ALS Technology and Treatment? |
| Most of us knows that ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This disease progressively destroys the motor neurons, reducing a patient’s muscle strength and mobility, until they eventually lose the ability to speak, eat or even breathe. Unfortunately, the mortality rate is 100% and the average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. The famous physicist Stephen Hawking lived for more than 50 years after he was diagnosed. Scientists have been working on treatments for decades but because this disease is so complex in understanding the cause or mechanism of action, currently there is no known cure or treatment that halts or reverses the progression of ALS. The FDA has approved medications such as riluzole (brand names Rilutek, Teglutik) and edaravone (Radicava) but they have proven to have only a modest affect in slowing the progression of ALS. To read more. |
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| April 15, 2023 |
| There Is at Least One Positive Thing That Resulted From the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| When the pandemic struck the world three years ago, the world was thrown into total chaos and mourned all those who succumbed to the virus. But the world came together to beat the virus. There were many downsides to the pandemic such as area lock downs, extremely high unemployment, people losing their home, mental health crisis and the list goes on. But in the mist of all this doom and gloom, there were a few positive aspects that resulted: 1) Office supply and furniture companies did well as people prepared to work remotely 2) Computer and other electronic accessories companies did well so people could work remotely 3) Viral platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams became mainstream and newer technology was developed on top of it. 4)Employers who were resistant to employees working remotely pre-pandemic found that employees were just as or even more productive as those working in the office because they didn’t have to spend time commuting to the office and use that time to do work and work at their own schedule depending on the job. The last point, #4 is what I am going to focus on for this month’s newsletter. To read more |
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| May 15, 2023 |
| The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Expired on May 11, 2023, But the Pandemic Is Not Over |
| The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. The virus that causes COVID-19, remains a public health priority, but thanks to the Administration’s whole of government approach to combating the virus, we are in a better place in our response than we were three years ago, and we can transition away from the emergency phase. An emergency phase that resulted in 7 million deaths worldwide and over one million deaths in the US because there was either no vaccine or not enough people were vaccinated plus boosters to reach “herd immunity” or optimally 90%. To read more. |
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| June 15, 2023 |
| The Impact of Climate Change on Your Health |
| We all know climate change is bad and that we need to do something about it. However, since climate change is gradual, the consequences of climate change is not seen as an urgency until it is too late. We are witnessing the consequences of “It is too late” now!. The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) warned that the climate change’s impact on health will have dire consequences should the world not act to curb global warming. This “climate crisis” is leading to an increase in frequency of wildfires, heat waves, floods, and extreme drought. To read more. |
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| July 15, 2023 |
| FDA Approves Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi, Will Physicians Rush to Prescribe it? |
| Many pharma/biotech companies have been trying to develop a drug that halts the progress of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) for decades as this disease can affect anyone in the aging population and scientists are still trying to figure out the pathophysiology of this disease. There are two classes of drugs used to the symptoms of AD at different stages of the disease, cholinesterase inhibitors and Memantine. On July 6, 2023, The FDA granted traditional approval on a second monoclonal antibody LEQEMBI® (lecanemab-irmb) by Esai and Biogen, the first and only approved treatment shown to reduce the rate of disease progression and to slow cognitive and functional decline in adults with AD. To read more. |
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| August 15, 2023 |
| The Battle of the Oral Obesity Drug and Who Will be First? |
| Obesity is a huge health problem that increases the risk for many serious diseases and health conditions. Four out of 10 Americans are classified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The effects of obesity are numerous increasing metabolic risk for diseases and direct effects on the body. There are a number of Big pharmaceutical companies that are in a race to bring out the first oral obesity drug with better efficacy. It’s “The battle of the oral obesity drugs” as to which company will get FDA approval for an oral drug that is better than what is currently on or will be on the market. To read more. |
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| September 15, 2023 |
| Can a New Ultrasound Patch Spot Tiny Breast Abnormalities Early? |
| Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States (some types of skin cancer are the most common). Black women die from breast cancer at a higher rate than White women. Each year in the United States, about 240,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women and about 2,100 in men. About 42,000 women and 500 men in the U.S. die each year from breast cancer. Black women have a higher rate of death from breast cancer than all other women. Find out how a New Ultrasound Patch May Spot Tiny Breast Abnormalities Early. To read more. |
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| October 15, 2023 |
| Two Breakthrough Discoveries |
| Recently there has been new innovative technologies such as the “New Ultrasound Patch to Detect Tiny Breast Abnormalities Early for diagnoses, and now two (2) discoveries that have stumped scientist for years. To read more. |
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| November 15, 2023 |
| Scientists find new autoimmune disease mechanism that explains why B cells self-react |
| Scientists have known for years that self-reactive B cells are one of the culprits behind autoimmune disease. The prevailing theory was that the rogue cells weren’t taken out by the body because of abnormalities in a different receptor called a B-cell receptor. Under normal conditions, if a developing B cell in the bone marrow binds to a self-antigen, a protein found on the surface of a body’s own cells—other immune cells will destroy it in a process known as central tolerance. But certain gene mutations or environmental exposures can cause the B-cell receptor to malfunction in a way that it evades destruction. To read more. |
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| December 15, 2023 |
| Why There Are Three Holidays in December |
| December is a time of celebration for three holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Find out why we celebrate them as each one is very different yet they have a lot of common. To read more. |
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